Eighteen years and 23 days ago, the fax machine buzzed in the St. Charles County Journal sports department at 7:13 am.

I wasn't in the office when the two-page document from the Frontier League spilled into the tray early that Sunday morning, but I knew as soon as I read the headline - "Brett Gray Whiffs 25 Paints" - and saw the box score that I wanted to write about that baseball event. My summer beat for the Journal was covering the River City Rascals, a team in the Frontier League, and the idea of telling the story of a 25-strikeout game was pretty appealing.

I put the fax in a do-not-pitch pile. But Gray signed with the Reds a day or two later, and the rest of the summer moved quickly, as summers tend to do. I never wrote Gray's story.

Fast forward to a couple of months ago. I was knee-deep in the moving process - sometimes literally, not just figuratively - when I happened across that fax in a box from my time with the Journal. "Finally," I thought, "I'm going to see if I can track down this Brett Gray dude."

A quick Google search revealed lots of references to Gray's epic performance for the London (Ontario) Werewolves on that day. Mostly just short recaps, with a couple of pieces that included interviews with Gray, too, but nothing that screamed, "Somebody beat me to this."

Worst-case scenario, I would write up a quick throwback story in May, right around the anniversary of Kerry Wood's 20-strikeout game in 1998. Best-case scenario? Well, that happened. I reached out to his college program, Oklahoma City University, and on May 1, Gray emailed me. I told him what I just told you. His response took things up a notch.

"There's a lot to that night. The story is better than the game believe it or not, and I think you'll appreciate the whole thing - you couldn't draw it up for a movie script," Gray wrote. "Looking forward to reminiscing, as it truly is a great baseball story. The game was pretty good too. Talk soon."

Our first interview/conversation lasted almost an hour. I knew Frontier League commissioner Bill Lee - no, not that Bill Lee - from when I covered the Rascals (he's in his 25th year as the only commish the league has ever had), so I reached out to him, too. He gave me contact info for Andy McCauley, who was London's manager for the game, and John Kuhn, the team's president/GM. Those conversations led to more contacts and more conversations. Seventeen interviews later, a story that was originally planned for maybe 500 words had blown up into a full-fledged 4,700-word feature.

I hope you'll read it. Can't remember the last time I had this much fun reporting/writing a story. If you've read this far into this companion piece, though, I imagine you've already read that one. As you can imagine, there were tons of side stories and details and even a couple of great interviews that I couldn't fit into that piece without distracting from the story.

So I'm putting those here.

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Let's start with the Frontier League.

Personally, it's hard to explain how much I loved the Frontier League. I was one of the few writers covering the league who regularly traveled on road trips, and that experience taught a young sportswriter so much about covering the sport.

The Frontier League is an independent league, not affiliated with any MLB organization. Unlike independent leagues such as the Atlantic League or the now-defunct Northern League, the Frontier League is not where aging MLB players go in an attempt to extend their careers. The Frontier League is all about giving young players who were overlooked by affiliated franchises an opportunity to pursue the start of their dream a little longer.

There is an age limit for the Frontier League; a player cannot be 27 prior to Jan. 1 of that playing season. The goal for every player in the Frontier League is to leave the Frontier League, and the league absolutely encourages that.

There's a camaraderie among players, pulling for that common goal.

"Undoubtedly, those are the guys you root for in their career," said Mike Cervenak, who accounted for two of Gray's 25 strikeouts that night. "For sure. You're behind the eight-ball. An organization doesn't make an investment in you, and you have to work your butt off to get that opportunity, and you want to see success for those people. You feel a bit of a kinship, almost like a badge of honor, that you were able to accomplish that, to make it."

Cervenak was signed by the Yankees' organization a month-and-a-half after Gray's game, with a .357 average. He produced solid numbers at Double-A and Triple-A for the Yankees, Giants, Orioles and Phillies, and finally made his MLB debut in 2008, at 31 years old. He never made it back to the bigs, despite rock-solid numbers at Triple-A - .296 career average at that level in 995 games - and retired at 37 after hitting .291 at Triple-A Toledo in 2013.

Cervenak is one of 35 players who have made it to the majors after spending time in the Frontier League. Right-handed pitcher Brian Tollberg was the first ex-FL standout to make his MLB debut, for the Padres just 17 days after Gray's 25-strikeout game in 2000, and Morgan Burkhart - who hit .404 with 36 homers and a 1.414 OPS in 80 games for the Richmond Roosters in his last Frontier League season - became the second alum to make the bigs just one week later. Brendan Donnelly was the first former Frontier Leaguer to make the MLB All-Star team, in 2003.

Frontier League alumni are making an impact in 2018. Jose Martinez has 11 homers and an .865 OPS for the Cardinals. Tanner Roark - who had a 21.41 ERA in his three Frontier League starts - has been a fixture in the Nationals' rotation since 2014. Trevor Richards (Marlins), Vidal Nuno (Rays), Drew Rucinski (Marlins) and Josh Smoker (Pirates) have been in the bigs this season, too.

The two teams in that 25-strikeout game - the London Werewolves and Chillicothe Paints - had a total of 12 players sign with MLB organizations at some point in the 2000 season.

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Mementos from that 25-strikeout game are in both the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Marys, Ontario.

Cooperstown is home to Gray's cap from the game, a signed baseball card and a scoresheet/program from the contest. The Canadian Hall has Gray's jersey in a frame.

Brett Gray's cap from the 25-strikeout game, which is in Cooperstown as part of the Basbeall Hall of Fame's collection. (Milo Steward Jr / Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)

The Frontier League established its own Hall of Fame in 2014. In addition to the inaugural five-player class - Morgan Burkhart, Aaron Ledbetter, Scott Pioni, Fran Riordan and Kirk Taylor - the league also established a "Special Moment" category, one per year. Gray's 25-strikeout game was an easy choice as the first moment.

"It was just an incredibly special night to watch," said commish Bill Lee, who was at the 25-strikeout game to present the 1999 championship banner to Gray and his London teammates. "I remember going into the locker room right after the game to shake his hand, say, 'My God, what an incredible effort.'"

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As mentioned in the feature story, Jim Cressman, the home-plate umpire for the 25-strikeout game, was part of the umpiring crew for the gold-medal game of the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The United States defeated Japan 5-3 behind a complete-game effort from Jim Abbott - he retired 11 of the final 12 batters he faced - and a pair of home runs by Tino Martinez. Cressman was the first-base ump for that contest.

"That was quite the U.S. team," he said. In this clip, you can see Cressman for just a moment, about six seconds in.

Cressman, an Ontario native, started his professional umpiring career in 1972 in the Appalachian League (rookie league level). The coincidence: The only pitcher ever to record more than Gray's 25 strikeouts was Ray Necciai, who struck out 27 in a 1952 game in, yep, the Appalachian League. Cressman moved up to the Single-A Florida State League in 1973 and was in the Double-A Eastern League in 1974 and 1975.

That's when his career as an umpire in affiliated baseball came to a screeching halt.

"I heard I was next in line to go to Triple-A," Cressman told me, "but after 1975, the U.S. Labor Department decided I was taking a job away from an American, so after four years in the minors, I was done."

No, really. Cressman's career ended because he was Canadian. Abe Shapiro, another Canadian umpire, lost his work visa after the 1974 season. Cressman lost his after the 1975 season. Jim McKean, a Canadian who was already in the majors, was left alone.

Cressman wound up taking a job as a sports reporter for the London Free Press, a position he held for 36 years, working umpiring at all levels on a part-time basis when jobs were available. As a reporter, Cressman covered both the Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays - both teams are about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from London, in opposite directions - and also the short-lived Double-A London Tigers.

Cressman also covered the Ontario Hockey League - one of the three junior hockey leagues in the CHL - for 19 years. In fact, he was on OHL Draft duty the day of the 25-strikeout game. His sports editor at the Free Press, David Langford, was the color man on the TV broadcast, and he dropped this nugget as one of his pregame notes:

"Jim actually has had a busy day. He was down at the Hershey Center in Mississauga for the OHL draft, worrying mostly about the London Knights and the Sarnia Sting. He has actually written two stories, and they're back at the office and he's made it down here, ready to go for tonight."

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As with so many aspects of life, being at the right place at the right time played a huge role in shaping the story of Brett Gray's 25-strikeout game.

After helping Oklahoma City University to the NAIA World Series in May 1998, Gray was freshly frustrated by the results of a weary-armed tryout with the Springfield club in the Frontier League and disappointed not to be picked in the MLB Draft in early June.

"I've known his college coach, Keith Lytle, for years and years," Andy McCauley said. "Keith called me and said, 'Hey, would you mind just working this kid out, seeing if he can help you?' He was driving home through Kalamazoo to Ontario, so I said sure."

McCauley was managing the Kalamazoo Kodiaks in 1998, and his team was not good. In fact, after the 1998 season, the franchise moved from Kalamazoo (Mich.) to London and revamped the roster. But in 1998, McCauley was open to any possible arms that could help, so he told Lytle that he'd call Gray by 11 a.m. Based on recent events, Gray wasn't exactly brimming with optimism. If the phone rang at 11:01, he decided, he wasn't picking up.

"So 11 am, on the screws, the phone rings," Gray said with a laugh. "It's Kalamazoo."

Kalamazoo was on Gray's drive back to Ontario. He stopped for what he thought was going to be a tryout. Turns out, though, a big storm front was rolling through the area later that evening. It wasn't supposed to arrive for the first pitch, but definitely would be there before the late innings arrived. The team wanted to start the game and get the gate/concessions, but McCauley didn't want to waste his best starter and a chance for a rare win.

McCauley decided to just sign Gray on Lytle's recommendation; worst-case scenario was that Gray would stink, they'd lose to the Richmond Roosters and they'd release him after the contest.

"So we threw him right in a uniform and threw him in a game," McCauley said. "He struck out Morgan Burkhart a couple times, and we thought, 'This kid has something that can certainly help us.'"

Gray finished the season with a 4.55 ERA - on a squad without much of a defense, the team ERA was 6.42 - and became a big part of McCauley's plan for a radically different 1999 season. When the move to London was announced, McCauley set about building his staff.

"Once you spend a year in the Frontier League, you're pretty much a veteran," Gray said. "Being in London and trying to maybe get a local guy, I said, 'Hey, interview my dad and see if you like him. He's been around the game forever. Give it a shot.'"

McCauley gave it a shot.

"When Andy interviewed me for the pitching coach job," Bruce Gray said, "the first question was, 'Can you throw batting practice?' I said, 'Oh yeah, all day.' So I pretty much had the job right there.

"He's a good manager. He knows the game, and he gets respect from his players in a hurry."

McCauley made acquiring local talent a priority, and it paid off. London rolled to a league-best 54 wins in 1999 and went 4-0 in the two playoff rounds to claim the championship.

"The teams in 1999 and 2000, I had a lot of Canadian players who never really had an opportunity to play professional before," McCauley said. "Brett and Bruce put a lot of that team together with people they had played with growing up and had played college ball in the States but had no place to play. There were quite a few Canadian players on that team, which made it a real close, special team right off the get. That's pretty much everything in independent baseball."

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How much did that magical 25-strikeout game mean to the people involved?

McCauley is back in the Frontier League, as the manager of the Evansville Otters. When I spoke with him on the phone, his team was on the road for a series against Southern Illinois, and he brought this nugget up unprompted.

"I still have the 25-punchout T-shirt in my locker. I take it with me, everywhere I've been since then," he said. "That's one of the T-shirts I hang in my locker."

Now the manager of the Frontier League's Evansville Otters, Andy McCauley still keeps the 25-strikeout shirt with him on the road. (Keith Millikan/Evansville Otters)

Soon after Gray's history-making performance, John Kuhn, the team's president/GM - and, as every person I interviewed for this story called him, a marketing genius in the vein of Bill Veeck - had T-shirts made up celebrating the accomplishment.

"The next time we played Chillicothe," said Kuhn, "they were getting off the bus and I had that shirt on, and one of their guys grabs me and says, 'Three of those are mine.'"

McCauley has taken his 25-strikeout shirt with him on every road trip for 18 years.

"I've witnessed quite a few no-hitters in my career, in the Frontier League, the Northern League, the Can-Am League, but as far as a pitching performance, there will never be a better pitching performance," McCauley said. "The perfect game is something to see, but a 25-strikeout performance is almost more dominant than a perfect game. It was without a doubt the most dominant pitching performance I've ever seen."